Alternate Barcodes: Four ways to Use Them to Make Retail Simple

What are Alternate Barcodes

Alternate barcodes are additional barcodes attached to an item, and they can be scanned instead of the main barcode to identify/load the product. In Nimbus RMS, you also have the option to add multiple or Alternate barcodes to a single item.

Let’s look at the various scenarios in which you can use alternate barcodes to make retail simple.

1. Alternate Barcodes When you want to Follow a Particular Coding System

If you are using a particular coding system for your items, and also want to stick with it for the items with pre-defined barcodes, the alternate barcode is the answer.

Let’s consider an example of soft drink cans that have barcodes printed on them. While defining the item (drink can), you can generate the code from your own coding template. As for the printed barcode, you can scan it as an alternate barcode for the drink can. Now, these barcodes will be attached to the drink can, and you can scan either one of them to load the item on the sales and return screen.

2. Alternate Barcodes for  Difficult to Print Long Barcodes

Sometimes, the stock of various items comes with pre-printed barcodes that are too long to be printed on sales receipts. In such cases, you can use your own coding system with shorter codes and save the long pre-printed barcodes as alternate barcodes. You can load the product by scanning any barcode, and also print the shorter barcode on the sales receipt.

3. Alternate barcodes For Barcodes with Special Characters

Some imported items come with barcodes having special characters that can’t be scanned in the item definition code field. Such barcodes can be attached to the product by scanning them in the alternate barcode field.

4. Alternate Barcodes When the New Stock comes with Different Barcodes

One of the most common scenarios in retail businesses is when the old stock of particular items is still lying around, and the new stock for those items comes with different barcodes. At times, this happens a couple of times and there could be 3-4 different barcodes for a single product.

You can’t define a new item every time the stock is received with a new barcode. Here again, the alternate barcode feature comes in handy. You can save every new barcode as the alternate barcode of the product.

Concluding Words

In this post, we have shown how you can use the alternate barcode feature in Nimbus online retail software to attach the pre-printed barcodes on items to the existing and new items. We have outlined the four scenarios in which the alternate barcode feature comes in handy.

Are you using alternate barcodes in your retail business? How do they help you?  Let us know in the comments section below.